magna doodle. comes in many different sizes.
have them take turns to draw something that starts with letter A or make it a contest and other kid trys to guess what it is. many other ways to use in creative interactive games.
and no mess, its self contained like etch-a sketch.

get a triptik and use to learn mapping and navigation skills. and math for the how much farther.? i dont know look on the trip tik and add it up.
what's the next city, town over 4,000 etc.....